Top of Our Pops

The President of the Company, Keith Scott-Savage in a wonderful over-the-top wig, introduced the revue to us, entitled, ‘Top Of Our Pops’.  The first section was ‘Popastic’ and the two opening numbers were by The Company and involved some very lively dance routines with some great hip action and not just from the girls!. I loved the ‘camp’ delivery by the Men of ‘You Were Made For Me’ which was followed by ‘Baby Love’ from the Ladies but it was very difficult to hear the soloist in this number. After two more Company numbers with beautiful harmonious singing, six ladies energetically danced to ‘Shout’ by Lulu and a Sketch ‘Status Who’ was hilariously performed and brought this section to a close. Next was ‘Iconic Bands from Vinyl to Digital’ and included items from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. A real highlight in this section from the 70’s was ‘Caroline’ performed by the only cast members named in the programme, Cam and Ollie, who, complete with guitars, superbly rocked their way through the number in true Status Quo style with the help of a great backing group. The sketch that followed, ‘Pan’s People’, was very enjoyable. From the 80’s we had ‘Perfect’ with a great solo part, and ‘Karma Chameleon’, complete with singers wearing ‘Boy George head-gear’, which was excellent. Take That’s ‘Could It Be Magic’ was a little different as on to the stage came a magician and his assistant who climbed into a very small box and he then proceeded to stick rods through it and when they were removed out she stepped, totally unscathed! Very, very impressively achieved and this group of singers completed this section by beautifully singing ‘A Little Time’. The sketch ‘You’re A Vision’, a skit on speed dating, although funny, was slightly disadvantaged by the fact the participants were reading the script. Next was ‘Eurovision Sensation’ highlighting some of the more memorable of the British entries with skirts being whipped off and the inclusion of some nice puppets. The Company concluded Act 1 by movingly singing ‘Love Shine A Light’ with all of them having their own ‘little light’ made all the more effective when the stage was put in black-out. The second Act opened with a section entitled ‘Showstoppers to Chart Toppers’ and again we were treated to some lovely harmony singing. I especially liked The Bass’s and Alto’s rendition of ‘Send In The Clowns’ with the delightful accompanying dance. ‘Summer Nights’ was great as was ‘No Matter What’. The ‘Swings and Sways – It’s a dance Craze’ included some iconic dance styles such as Disco, YMCA, Line Dancing, Macarena, and Thriller which was superb. Section Two was ‘Lovin’ The Charts’. The soloists who sang in ‘Somebody to Love’ were outstanding and what a tremendous high voice rang out in the Men’s group singing of ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’. Not to be outdone, the Ladies excelled in ‘Love Can Build A bridge’. Something a little different was the UV Dance ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ and the sketch ‘The Lumberjack Song’ had the whole audience laughing. Section Three ‘Top Of The Pops’ contained four great numbers especially good was ‘Flashdance’ and the whole evening was brought to a close with what else but ‘Let Me Entertain You’ and they had certainly done just that. A great deal of thought and effort had gone into the design and making of the various costume choices for each section resulting in some stunning outfits, and together with effective back drops enhanced by, at times, some excellent lighting effects all glued together by a splendid four piece band, wonderful singing and dancing made all the obvious hard work by all concerned worthy of praise. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed their different approach to a revue from the ‘norm’. It was a great ensemble one with just full company and small group involvement and how nice to get away from ‘Musicals’ which enabled them to showcase the superb talent within the group in a completely new light. Congratulations must go to everyone involved for producing what was an evening of first-class entertainment.

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